Cal Football: Ten Years Of Tedford Roundtable
A decade and a day ago, this happened.
In his first moments on the job as Cal's 32nd football coach, [Jeff] Tedford was quick to outline his vision: "to get to where we're competing for the Pac-10 championship and at the national level."
That long journey began yesterday at a news conference at Memorial Stadium.
Tedford, a coach for 15 years, takes over a team that was 1-10 this season. He inherits a program that hasn't had a winning season since 1993 and hasn't represented the conference in the Rose Bowl since Jan. 1, 1959. Tedford does it with a simple commitment to hard work and team values.
"Our team will be disciplined, our team will play hard," he said. "They will play fast, they will play smart. They will have a lot of fun, but they will do it with class."
For the most part, for ten years, his teams have fit those qualities. And the way things are looking, I have a feeling the remainder of his teams here will embody all these attributes.
Regardless what you think of this coach (and I know a lot of you think a lot of different things), a decade in college football is an eternity these days. Tedford will likely be the longest-tenured coach in Cal football history when all is said and done, and he should be able to break the all-time record for most wins as leader of the Golden Bears.
Here in this thread, we reflect on how we thought of things at the beginning, and how far we've come from there. Here's to another ten Coach.
What were your original thoughts on the hiring of Tedford? Did you know anything about him? What were the reactions from other people you knew? Were any of you optimistic that he would be the one to turn Cal around?
TwistNHook: Although I had only missed 1 home game in years at that point, I have no recollection of where I was or what I thought when Tedford was hired.
I don't think I'd ever seen Cal win more than 4 games in my career at that point. To me, college football wasn't about winning. That was what other teams did. To me, college football was about going to the game, having fun with your friends, and sweating a lot in the afternoon sun (no evening or even later afternoon start times!).
This is also now how I feel as an A's fan.
solarise: I had high hopes for Tedford replacing Holmoe. Really, things couldn't have been any worse after 1-10. Students and alumni clamored for change. Tedford was the man Gladstone wanted. Billed as the offensive mind behind Mike Bellotti's Oregon Ducks, Coach Tedford brought respect and success back to the Golden Bears. I recalled the first offensive play of the 2002 season - backward pass from Kyle Boller to Terrell Williams to David Gray for a TD. That play rekindled my long dormant passion for football excellence at Memorial.
CALumbus Bear: I had no idea who this new coach was when he was hired, as I was busy convincing myself we were a basketball school. However, when I stumbled upon the Cal-Michigan State game in 2002, and I saw us beat the crap out of a ranked team on the road, I quickly learned about Tedford. That game re-ignited my passion for Cal football. After getting together with Ohio Bear to watch Cal FINALLY take back the Axe later that season, I began to think this coach was pretty durn good. Turns out I was wrong: he is an excellent coach. I praise Oski we hired him, and I hope he stays many more years (and, of course, gets us to at least one Rose Bowl).
Kodiak: Amidst the smoldering detritus of the Holmoe era, I think athletic director Steve Gladstone could have announced that he was going to hold a Madden 2001 tournament to find the next coach and it would have been met with, "well, why not?" The rumor was that Marvin Lewis was our first choice, so when Jeff Tedford was announced, there was a resounding cry of, "who?" But when it was explained that he had been Oregon's offensive coordinator, I became cautiously optimistic. After all, Oregon had been putting 30-40 points up on everybody and their quarterback had gone from an unknown to a Heisman candidate.
Juggling my residency and attending Cal football games was a tough call those days, particularly during the 1-10 season. It really wasn't the easiest sell to get Mrs. Kod to agree to attend the home opener with me. Fortunately, we were newlyweds, so she was still pretending that my Cal lunacy was somewhat endearing. It's amazing how many emotional highlights there were in that first season. Besides the trick halfback option to blow open the gates, there was the "72,000? Disappointed fans!" locker room cheer when we upset Michigan State on the road. I remember a game where we needed to run out the clock, but there was too much time remaining for consecutive kneel-downs. Instead of punting, Tedford had Boller throw backwards to Makonnen. The opposing team couldn't get to him and time expired. I remember yelling, "Wow!??! Who does that? Who even thinks of that? Who even practices that? We've got a coach!!!"
Besides a flicker of competence during much-too-short Snyder era, that year was the first time amidst 20+ years of watching Cal football where our team looked well-coached and competitive. Sure, there have been some hiccups over the past few years. But "bad" years during the Tedford era would have been cause for backflips in almost any other decade. He's a good man, a class act, and I'm glad that he's our coach. Happy 10th, Coach. Here's hoping the next 10 comes with Roses and a permanent lease on the Axe.
norcalnick: For a little historic perspective, it's worth mentioning that Cal has never had a coach stay longer than a decade. Andy Smith coached for 10 years and would have stayed much, much longer had he not passed away, and Pappy Waldorf probably could have stayed beyond 10 years under different circumstances. But the fact remains that Jeff Tedford will next year claim the title of longest tenured coach in Cal history to add to his title of winningest coach in Cal history.
I appreciate what Jeff Tedford has done for the Cal Football program. What he does isn't easy. It's often a quite unforgiving job too. It's been a memorable experience to watch his teams, and I hope for many winning seasons to come so I can continue to watch him coach the Bears.
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I really hope that when Tedford finally hangs it up as a coach he becomes Cals AD
by SDBear on Dec 13, 2011 10:17 PM PST via mobile reply actions 1 recs
I think Sandy’s done a great job as AD. I hope for him to enjoy the statue that will be cast in his honor while Aaron Rodgers Jr., Desmond Bishop Jr. & Marshawn Jr. carry him off the field.
I agree that she has done a fine job as the AD but she won’t be the AD at Cal forever. Ideally, she leaves, Tedford retires as coach and takes over. All this sometime in the distant future once Tedford has taken Cal to a couple of Rose Bowls.
Several Rose Bowls!
"i, for one, welcome our new atomic overlords" - GoldBlooded
by atomsareenough on Dec 14, 2011 4:59 PM PST up reply actions
Having been raised an Oregon fan and watching them when Tedford was there, I was stoked. I didn’t know he’d be able to turn things around so quickly, but I had hope.
Cal Football: I loved them once and they broke my heart. Let that be a lesson to you. Never love anything.
BTW, wow he looks so young in that photo!
Cal Football: I loved them once and they broke my heart. Let that be a lesson to you. Never love anything.
by CalBandGreat on Dec 13, 2011 10:30 PM PST up reply actions
First Cal game I ever watched
was Tedford’s first game. Didn’t know anything about Cal football except for The Play and didn’t even know it was his first game as head coach. I was bored, flipping through the channels and it just happened to be on KRON4. The rest is history…
P.S. Thank the football gods that I didn’t have to live through Holmoe era. I seriously came away from watching that first game thinking that Cal had been relevant for years because they just dominated so much…
by FromCtoShining(Blue)C on Dec 13, 2011 10:48 PM PST reply actions
As a grade school boy during the Holmoe era....
I would attend games and always wonder why my uncle was calling the coach a homo
A few memories that stand out for me
Going to the Baylor season opener and leaving at the beginning of the 4th quarter because Cal was DESTROYING Baylor! Usually it was the other way around.
Rushing the field after the 2002 Big Game to finally get the Axe back and watching the goal post get torn down and carried down Bancroft.
The season openers at Memorial in 07 and 08. Exacting revenge against Tennessee in 07 and beating a solid MSU team in 08.
Watching Rodgers play. Witnessing and holding my breath during any Desean Jackson punt return. Being amazed by the power, speed, and vision of Lynch. All done within the warm walls of Memorial on a beautiful Saturday afternoon.
Hearing the cannon fired a lot because our OFFENSE was actually able to score TDs on a consistent basis!!
Rushing the field again after the 2004 Big Game, not so much because we beat stanfurd (again) and kept the Axe for another year but because we were so sure we were going to the Rose Bowl.
Going to the Holiday Bowl in 2006 and beating a “big, bad, and tough” team from Texas.
by SDBear on Dec 13, 2011 11:27 PM PST via mobile reply actions
I only put games up that I actually attended. While I have attended many more games than the the ones listed, these ones stuck out for me.
I didn’t make it to the Maryland game but it was nice to get some revenge for the year before. It also doesn’t help that Maryland was absolutely terrible that season.
That was a good game :) I knew this Maryland guy from grad school and he had come out with a couple of friends, maybe thinking they’d see a repeat. They were appropriately disheartened after the game, heheh.
"i, for one, welcome our new atomic overlords" - GoldBlooded
by atomsareenough on Dec 14, 2011 12:19 PM PST up reply actions
Get ready for some big new tomorrow.......
RGBearTerritory Ryan Gorcey
#Cal fans, get ready for some good news on Wednesday. #dominos
Tosh Lupoi
@Coach_Lupoi
Who wants to play “DOMINOS” with your boi, Who’s going to play with this fam? #Cal #Calgang #GoBears #dominos
Hopefully that good news includes reasonable season ticket prices…
by puresilence on Dec 13, 2011 11:35 PM PST up reply actions
I think Shaq Diesel is announcing at the Army All America game
6 1st round draft picks, 2 Super Bowl Champions and counting
by Another Successful Tedford QB on Dec 14, 2011 6:24 AM PST up reply actions
Zack Follett joining Tedford's staff?
From Zack Follett’s twitter:
@JForsett Good man.. just got back from mission in England.. life changing.. back in Fresno with Fam. Talked to Teddy might get a job at Cal
I hope this is true!
My wife works occasionally with one of Zack’s cousins and I always tell her to relay to Zack (via his cousin) that us Bear alums/fans would love to see him in the program as a LB coach.
They seem like a nice family and the cousin even got me an autographed football by the pain train himself! It sits proudly on my display shelf for all to see.
[Cal is] a fabulous university with a football program that typically has precious few and very fleeting brushes with success but a great many unions with failure.
--Monte Poole, Oakland Tribune, 11-30-2010
by SonofCalifornia on Dec 14, 2011 10:30 AM PST up reply actions
Thats so cool that I guy I know solely because hes commented on an internet website’s wife works occassionally with a cousin of Zack Follett.
It’s like Zack and I are bffs!
In the Game of Trolls, you either troll or you die.
CaliforniaGoldenBlogs: Read It | Follow It | Like It | Wear It
Also, my wife’s brother’s friend’s uncle’s pet sitter’s dog occasionally does stand in work for Benji. ;)
[Cal is] a fabulous university with a football program that typically has precious few and very fleeting brushes with success but a great many unions with failure.
--Monte Poole, Oakland Tribune, 11-30-2010
by SonofCalifornia on Dec 14, 2011 10:43 AM PST up reply actions
I’ll be really happy to see him lighting fires under our players’ butts from the sideline :)
"i, for one, welcome our new atomic overlords" - GoldBlooded
by atomsareenough on Dec 14, 2011 12:20 PM PST up reply actions
My thoughts at the time: I liked the hire
Even before I went to Cal I was always a Pac10 fan and enjoyed watching all PAC 10 games.
Seeing how Oregon had a Heisman candidate in Joey Harrington at QB and a very good and highly ranked team in 01, I got to see a lot Oregon games during that season. So I heard the name Tedford a bit during games and how he was this young hot shot OC.
Anyways I was obviously sold and a fan of Oregons offense and knew Tedford was the OC. I thought Cal had some decent talent on offense, especially in Boller so I figured an offensive minded guy was probably the right direction to go in. However, during the 2001 season I never could have imagined Tedford would ever coach my beloved but lowly winless Bears. I mean why would this young OC with such a bright future pick a 1-10 program? Surely bigger and better schools would hire Tedford before Cal would even have a chance. Was I happy to be wrong about that one.
What really sold me on Tedford was the Fiesta Bowl. Oregon got passed over for the NCG and went to the Fiesta to play Big12 champ Colorado. I can’t remember if Tedford had already accepted the Cal job or just had been interviewed and was seen as a top candidate. What ever it was (I believe he had accepted the Cal job before the bowl game but I could be wrong) it is safe to say that Tedford might have been distracted for this bowl game. Well the game started and Oregons offense absolutely rolled Colorados defense. The game was a complete blowout. After that game I was very excited about Tedford.
Yes I have been critical of Tedford on here but I am extremely thankful for him staying at Cal when he could have left. I’m thankful that he has helped raise expectations and build new facilities. I am thankful he has graduated his players and ran a clean program. I am happy that he is still the head coach at the best damn university in California, the west coast, and IMO, the entire nation!
Go Tedford! Go Bears!
by SDBear on Dec 13, 2011 11:55 PM PST via mobile reply actions
I guess I’m one of the older guys (I don’t feel this way – I’m perpetually 29) on this blog. I first became a Cal fan when I watched the evening sports highlighting The Big Game’s no time remaining, Cal’s winning last play TD reception by Steve Sweeney from QB Vince Ferragamo. As a JC transfer I witnessed Cal football from 1973 thru the 1975 (Pac 8 co-champs + sentimentally one of Cal’s best teams) season. Bought season tickets in 1977 to date. I originally thought this is great. However over the years Cal would experience rare success (1982- The Play), Coach Snyder’s 1990-91 bowl game seasons and the endless hiring of HC’s (always hoped Cal would find a successful one) leading to more football mediocrity. As a long suffering Cal season ticket holder, (yes I did sit thru the lowest point of Cal football history: 1-10 2001 season – winless at Memorial), I read with interest AD Steve Gladstone’s hiring process during his selection of new HC Tedford. Never did I realize that he would be the “One” to restore Cal football excellence. From the first play of the 2002 season, to watching QB Aaron Rodgers, to this ground breaking 2011 season (10th and all time winning record) Coach Tedford has run the Cal program with the vision that he laid out. The realization of the soon to be completed STUDENT-ATHLETE HIGH PERFORMANCE CENTER (SAHPC), remodeling of Memorial Stadium, the upcoming 2012 recruiting class and the returning players give me great optimism that Cal football will be much talked about in the near future by everyone. Coach Tedford will finally reap the seeds that he planted 10 years ago. He will soon experience the lofty heights of sustained excellence in his program. Thank you Coach Tedford. Many Happy returns. “This is Cal football”.
My thoughts in 2002
After such a lovely record at an impressionable age, I was set for the 2002 season. I knew I had to make it to the game so I could see the bomb go off and the cannon blast, to watch something that always made Memorial happy. I knew I had to stick around and see the entertainment that was going to happen at half time, one of the guaranteed fun moments. And I went into every single game in 2002 expecting a loss. The previous season had taught me it was much easier to bear the pain of seeing us being decimated week in and out if you simply accepted it as what was going to happen. This thinking held through the 2003 season, even half way through the 2004 season (yeah, you might say 2001 had an effect on me). In short: aside from the 2004 season, the 2002 season was the most fun I have ever had going to Cal games simply going as a spectator. Nothing can compare now getting to be on that field, but 2002 was the most fun I had had in Memorial up to that point, and 2004 barely eclipsing it. It meant getting to see us put up points like there was no tomorrow. It meant we could block punts, recover fumbles, and stop opponents from moving the ball. It meant after growing up and watching year after year of close games, and an overtime match, I got to see the most fantastic sports moment of my life. I saw Memorial Stadium doing the wave, yelling, chanting, and jeering at a hapless Stanford team that I, not even knowing their record, assumed would win the game. I saw the grass disappear with 7 seconds left on the clock as the cannon boomed from the hill.
And as I will be seeing my 20th approaching in a few months, and two decades having passed, I have but one thing to say. Jeff, thanks for making the second one special. I may be eternally bitter and never trust the Bears to do anything, but you sure have made me smile this past decade like I know I never did the decade previous. Thank you so very much.
"Our hearts shall sing and our voices ring for the dear old Blue and Gold!"
by Joe Bandsmen on Dec 14, 2011 3:25 AM PST reply actions 1 recs
I took a wait and see attitude
I was glad that the Tom Holmoe era was over. Cal football in 2001 had reached rock bottom. The prospect of a new coach was exciting, but Cal football was not a “destination job” in those days, so I knew that we probably going to make a real “splash” with the hire.
So when Jeff Tedford was introduced as the head football coach, I was cautiously optimistic. On the one hand, it seemed like this was a guy who was ready to be a head football coach and that he had a great track record with coaching quarterbacks and coordinating offenses. And his last year as OC a Oregon in 2001 was a fabulous year for the Ducks. On the other hand, I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t a part of me that wondered whether this like Keith Gilbertson all over again — hiring the OC off the Pac-10’s best team of the day didn’t exactly work out with Gilby.
Then came the season opener and the dazzling season-opening (I guess you could also call it “era opening”) play in the Baylor game — the double pass, 72-yard TD play to David Gray. And we won 70-22. I knew Baylor was bad, but wow. 70 points?!?
I was actually in attendance for the next game, the following week against New Mexico State. It was the smallest crowd I witnessed at a Cal game since the 1989 Washington game a few days after the Loma Prieta earthquake — 27,000, as a I recall, even though it was a very nice day at Memorial. We won the game 34-13 and I remember feeling pretty good about our chances the following week against 15th-ranked Michigan State. Call it my first experience with “Tedford Sunshine Pumping.”
When we beat MSU and started that whole mantra of “70,000 disappointed fans!” I really believed that Cal had hired the right guy for the job. Yeah, we had some disappointments that year, but I was still amazed that Tedford could walk in and go 7-5 with the same guys that had gone 1-10 the year before. And then, after we beat USC the following year, I started to fear we’d lose Tedford to a more high profile program.
I’m glad he didn’t leave. And I’m thankful that he has brought so much fun and joy to the biggest sports passion I have.
Man crush on Aaron Rodgers, since 2003.
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I was HYPED...
One, I was hyped that Gladstone had taken over at AD. After the Bad News Bob era, which stunted the Snyder era and gave us the Holmoe era, there needed to be change. I knew about Tedford, but I never thought we’d get him. Cal was never the school which was forward thinking. So when we got him, I was happy.
Like everyone else, it was that first play which showed me we had a different coach. Also, since we beat Baylor something like 70 million to nothing, it help blow away the stink of the 1-10 season. However, it was the win over MSU on ESPN, that made me a believer.
That said, Tedford may frustrate, but he has more than earned his continued tenure. He’s been a loyal Bear, and the football program has never been at this point (in the modern era). Go Bears and Go Tedford!
Lawrence Ross
John Kasser was AD after Bockrath and before Gladstone. It was Kasser who hired Holmoe.
Man crush on Aaron Rodgers, since 2003.
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Like a lot of my fellow geriatrics on this blog, I approached the news of Tedford’s hiring with a bit of a jaundiced eye, but with hope. After all, I’d lived through Kapp, Gilby, and Holmoe, along with the bungled handling of Snyder and Mooch, so you can certainly understand being a bit cautious about Tedford.
Of course, that caution was less about Tedford’s ability (which even I saw was considerable given Oregon’s performance), but more about the Cal Athletic Dept finding some way to totally screw things up.
Still, the fact that Cal hired a young, hungry kid who had these wild ideas and a truckload of eager energy was promising. Particularly after hearing a few interviews that Tedford gave early on. He said everything we Old Blues wanted to hear from our coach. Talk of pride, integrity, honesty, and the importance of remembering that Cal was athletics first.
Overall, I just remember that I was pleased at the annoucement, and pretty damn proud that not only has Tedford been the coach we wanted, but that the administration has come around as well.
Being an Old Blue means embracing the "meh".
Win one for the Zipper!
Man crush on Aaron Rodgers, since 2003.
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Brain fart
Corrected:
He said everything we Old Blues wanted to hear from our coach. … remembering that Cal wasathleticsacademics first.
I guess I’m still baffled by the nonsense happening at the extension campus.
Being an Old Blue means embracing the "meh".
I started Cal in the Snyder era so I figured all games were this exciting. My last semester was Gilby’s first year so it was still competitive. I still left without seeing a Big Game win. Mooch was promising until he left for greener pastures so when Tedford was hired, I figured it would be the same. It was a definite upgrade from Holmoe (how a DC with the worst D in the Pac-10 gets a head coaching job is beyond me). After the first year, and going to the UCLA and big game in ’02, I was excited, but wondering just when Tedford would jump ship to a top tier College program or possibly the NFL.
I’m excited that he seems to really want to be here, build a program, and really make sure the players are students first. Now it could be that in the last few years his luster has dulled and those jobs aren’t calling anymore. But I think our program will be stronger if he stays and leads the program for many more years than if he left or were fired and we hired the next hot coaching prospect only to have them leave and we’d have to do it all over again. I wouldn’t have imagined 10 years ago that we could have anything close to the SAHPC. Maybe 20 years ago if Snyder weren’t unceremoniously booted but not during the Holmoe era.
I think the title and the brief descriptors are a bit off for this post. This isn’t a piece looking at Tedford’s 10 years at Cal, rather I think it’s more of a reflection on how the desperate and kicked in the nuts fanbase felt at the time of his hire and the reactions of the 2002 season.
Out of his initial founding visions:
“Our team will be disciplined, our team will play hard,” he said. “They will play fast, they will play smart. They will have a lot of fun, but they will do it with class.”
I think we can say that year in and out, his teams haven’t always necessarily played with heart and discipline, but they’ve always been very fast and they always do it with class.
"We lose to Stanford in many sports, but if you want to make a Cal team quit, bring a weapon."
--Coach Clark
nice tribute, guys....
…..but I’m pretty sure the cheer was “50,000 disappointed fans!”
I had heard of Tedford up at Oregon but didn’t quite know that he was considered the genius behind Belotti’s offense so my expectation was pretty much neutral. However, I was sold with the very first snap of his tenure! We were watching the Baylor game on TV that day and the house went absolutely ballistic with that first play! And watching Boller play 10 times better than he ever had under Holmoe, I knew this was our guy. For the first time in a long, long time, there was a sense of hope and excitement about Cal football…anything was possible now.
GO BEARS!
GO TEDFORD!
[Cal is] a fabulous university with a football program that typically has precious few and very fleeting brushes with success but a great many unions with failure.
--Monte Poole, Oakland Tribune, 11-30-2010
by SonofCalifornia on Dec 14, 2011 10:39 AM PST reply actions
The grass is not always greener
Tedford has shown a tremendous amount of loyalty and class during his tenure, when we could have been like any other coach and packed his bags and left for more money. Every coach will have down years at some point, but good coaches adapt to bounce back, and Tedford has shown that he’s trying to do that. Given our long history of misery and the overall history of college football, I’m very skeptical of our chances of any other coach coming to Cal demonstrating the same level of success AND sticking around.
I think it will be extremely hard to do better than Tedford after he’s done, and that it’s more likely that we will repeat the last 50 years than suddenly become a football powerhouse. We may get flash-in-the-pan success off the scheme-flavor-of-the-week, then lose the coach and realize he left the recruiting cupboards empty and fall into a WSU state of suck for a decade. Compared to that, I’d rather keep a loyal coach with a history of success and dedication to our school, and thus far demonstrating an eagerness to adapt and improve. I believe Tedford has a lot more left in him, and just as he’s demonstrated his honor beyond the field of CFB coaches, we can demonstrate ours beyond the field of CFB fans. Give him a few more years to show he can bounce back. Invest in the long-term instead of earnings for this quarter. Invest in being better than what college football is right now.
In summary, GO BEARS!
by WolverBear on Dec 14, 2011 10:48 AM PST reply actions 4 recs
WSU hasn't been in a state of suck for the last decade, although you are not far off
WSU went to the Rose Bowl twice in the last 15 years (97 & 02) They also went to the Holiday Bowl in 03, as well as the Sun Bowl in 01.
I would take a nice 6 year run where Cal went to four bowls, two of which were the Rose and the other two being the Sun and Holiday.
Other than that, I agree with what you said.
and that was when the Holiday was the #2 bowl for Pac10 teams.
"We lose to Stanford in many sports, but if you want to make a Cal team quit, bring a weapon."
--Coach Clark
2004-2011 is 7 years already. Maybe they will go to a bowl game next year, but the jury’s still out on that.
"i, for one, welcome our new atomic overlords" - GoldBlooded
by atomsareenough on Dec 14, 2011 5:01 PM PST up reply actions
rec'd
[Cal is] a fabulous university with a football program that typically has precious few and very fleeting brushes with success but a great many unions with failure.
--Monte Poole, Oakland Tribune, 11-30-2010
by SonofCalifornia on Dec 14, 2011 12:05 PM PST up reply actions
I agree with you and hope we as fans don’t forget the loyalty Tedford has shown to Cal, as well as the consistent success that eluded Cal for decades before Tedford. Just look at what’s happened to Maryland after they dumped Ralph Friedgen after 10 years, a BCS game, and nine wins in his last season.
2002
My first thought was that Tedford had the same resume as Gilbertson had going in, but I Gilbertson looked like a reasonable hire at the time, he just didn’t work out. Tedford looked like a similarly reasonable hire, so I was willing to wait and see. I posted before the season that I would be happy with 4-9, the team went 7-6 and I’ve supported Tedford ever since.
To toss some numbers in here
This is the number of winning seasons Cal has had per decade:
- 1920s: 9
- 1930s: 7
- 1940s: 3
- 1950s: 4
- 1960s: 1
- 1970s: 7
- 1980s: 1
- 1990s: 3
- 2000s: 8
Clearly, it’s been a while since we’ve approached anything like the success under Tedford.
Also, Cal’s all-time record before Tedford was 557-441-51, a .555 winning percentage. With Tedford’s record so far of 79-47, Cal’s all-time record has improved to 636-488-51, a .563 winning percentage. It’s hard to move the needle much with over 100 years of history already on the books, but it’s clear that Tedford should be praised for revitalizing the football program.

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